Quarter Share cover art

Quarter Share

Trader's Tales, Book 1

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Quarter Share

By: Nathan Lowell
Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
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About this listen

What if we sent freighters instead of frigates?

In a universe run by corporations, where profit matters more than life, how can an orphan with no skills, no money, and no prospects survive?

When Ishmael Wang's mother dies in a senseless accident, he's given a choice: leave the planet on his own, or the company will remove him. To avoid deportation Ishmael finds work as a mess deck attendant on an interstellar freighter.

Find out what Ishmael must do to earn his Quarter Share.

©2016 Nathan Lowell (P)2016 Podium Audio Adventure Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera

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When I like someone, I kinda follow them, so when I saw that Jeffrey Kafer posted about a new sci fi. I was like, Oh, yes please!

I did learn that it wasn't the usual kinda sci fi I read or have started to listen to, but that didn't mean I did not enjoy this.

The author Nathan Lowell has really done something different here. This is a very character driven book with people you can soon fall in love with. The main character Ish, has just lost his mum in a tragic accident, and with no parents and no job he's about to be forced off planet, so he takes the first thing offered to him because he's no choice.

The kid finds himself on the Lowis, (sp) and embarks on a very different way of looking at things, something no one on the ship has seen before.

Ish soon makes friends with the people in his department, Cookie and Pip. Even though he shows Pip up, he finds time to actually help the other youngster, and they become not only friends but partners in crime too, getting up to all kinds of trading adventures.

Pip, however, isn't having much fun, after losing everything he had in a trade gone wrong, it's the captain and Ish that help him here, and they begin to form a co-op with the ships best interests at heart.

The narration from Jeffrey is great, he's perfect in first person POV and the inner mind of a youngster finding his feet, not only with the fleet, but amongst other people is interesting and very well done. Jeffrey delivers a lot of emotion with hardly any effort and all the characters come alive. I was especially fond of Bev and Dianne. :) even Francis and Cookie. :)

I do think that there should have been a little more conflict for Ish on the ship. Although he's never been off planet before, the people he meets, all seem a little too nice. Maybe that's because Ish himself is just so nice, he never seems to fire up over much, doesn't really grieve for his mum, and I think I'd really like that, even if it wasn't in the first section of the book, but defo towards the end. The closest we get to that is when he remembers packing up on the planet, and moving to his new quarters, (but I'm not sure if that was actually in the second piece, as there was a few chapters in there for free.)

I am really interested in seeing what the gang does now though with their trading empire. I wonder what can go wrong, and what other relationships are going to form. It seemed Ish was starting to become attracted to some of his female friends on a different level, he kinda doesn't mention that from the planet. about his other friends, or any potential girlfriends.

Thanks for an awesome new series to follow, and I look forward to more! :)

Different, but amazing.

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This book won't be for everyone because there's no big threat to the hero or a quest that needs a long and arduous journey. Instead this is a fantastic foray into normal people's lives in a futuristic galaxy. The narrator is great and lends gravitas to the mundane setting. But what amazed me was how absorbed I became in the protagonists journey, when it's really just a day by day account of a kid doing a job, meeting new people and starting a small business with them. Really great writing to pull that off I think.

A brilliant understated story

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Loved this book. Really engaging story. Military feel but with fantastic economics themes. If you ever wanted a little more real world economics in your sci-fi this is the book.

Excellent Sci-fi Trading Story

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A light, fun book; no real plot or conflict, just slice of life in space.
Main character is sympathetic, and gets pretty much everything right, but that didn't bother me; it's a bit of Gary Stu / wish fulfillment, enjoyable to listen to.

Learn all you ever wanted to learn about making coffee, buying and selling belts, and growing mushrooms in space!

It took a chapter or so to to warm up to the narrator, but eventually I really liked him; the way he differentiated between different characters, without using silly voices etc, was great.

Lovely, undemanding story to play in the background, when you can't pay full attention, or want something that is not too heavy.

No worries in the deep dark

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Trading on the high seas in a galaxy far, far away. No, not Star Wars. Not Star Trek either. This is about trading between Star systems using solar winds, hence the nautical references. This is an adrenaline-free book describing growing maturity, of the main character and is very engaging, despite a lot of "niceness" as described by other reviewers. The world building is logical and plausible, as in the best sci fi books.
I came across Nathan Lowell's own narration in podcast form years ago and fell for his gentle tales and wonderful narration. Not all authors are good narrators of their own works but Nathan's is better than the narrator chosen here. Yes, this is the start of a series, which progresses very satisfactorily, and although there isn't a lot of trauma in this book, things do warm up in further books, and by then we are invested in our hero! Despite my preference in narrator, I highly recommend this book as an undemanding yet engaging read I'm sure you'll enjoy.

The Golden Age of the Solar Clipper

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